On the first weekend of Motorsport in Ireland, the opening round of Valvoline Irish Forestry Championship was the Willie Loughman Memorial Rally in Carrick-on-Suir where Derry pair Marty McCormack and Barney Mitchell dominated.

Driving their trusty Skoda Fabia the experienced partnership took the lead on the second of the six stages and stayed there for the rest of the day to head the points table after round one in the Valvoline National Forestry Rally Championship.

Former Tarmac champions Garry Jennings and Rory Kennedy took an early lead on the first stage, but their Impreza slipped down to third overall at the finish, behind the flying Fiesta of last year’s Willie Loughman winners Andrew Purcell and Mark Wiley.